EARTH’S INTERNAL PROCESS

Endogenic processes are geological processes that occurs beneath the surface of the earth. Forces that
cause the earth surface to move is endogenic forces. There are two categories of heat the primordial heat,
generated during earth’s formation and radioactive heat generated by long-term radioactivity.

The bowels of the earth closely resemble a giant thermal power station, powered by convection currents
that heat the surface by taking energy from the rocks buried deeper underground. At the very center of this
giant factory, we have the terrestrial mantle, followed by the earth’s crust. The outer layer of the mantle and the
whole of the crust are sometimes collectively referred to as the lithosphere: a puzzle comprised of twelve
enormous pieces that move against each other to the rhythm of powerful subterranean currents. These pieces
are known as tectonic plates, and the boundaries between them are where the earth’s inner working can most
clearly be seen; as these are places where one frequently finds earthquakes and volcanoes.

A major source of earth’ s heat is radioactivity, the energy released when the unstable atoms decay. The
radioactive isotopes uranium-235 (235U), uranium 238 (238U), potassium – 40 (40K), and thorium – 232 (232Th)
in earth’s mantle are the first source decay produced more heat early in earth’s history than it does today,
because fewer atoms of these isotopes are left today. Heat contributed by radioactivity is now roughly ¼ of what
it had been when earth was formed.
The heat from earth’s interior is distributed through heat transfer the convection and conduction. Heat transfer
is the movement of thermal energy from a hotter place to a cooler place.
Convection is a heat transfer when a fluid, such as air or a liquid, is heated and then travels away from
the source, it carries the thermal energy along.
Conduction is a heat transfer by direct contact of particles of matter.

Convection in earth’s mantle is typically discussed as it relates to heat flow in liquids and gases. Warmer parts of
a liquid tend to rise, while cooler parts tend to sink. This results in convection currents that help distribute heat
more evenly throughout the fluid.
 For example, pressure and temperature conditions in the Earth’s mantle allow mantle rock to slowly
convert. Hotter rock rises and cooler rock sinks in mantle convection cells, or currents. This process is related to
several other processes, including the movement of tectonic plates and the outward transfer of earth’s internal
heat.

TYPES OF STRESS
Rocks can be stressed. Stress on rocks is a force that changes the rocks’ shape and volume. There are
different types of stress. These are compression, tension, and shearing.
Compression is a kind of stress where rocks tend to compress each other. It happens in convergent
boundaries. There is a tendency for the rock to be squeezed until it breaks of folds. This can cause the rock to
shortened. Most famous example of compression is the Rocky Mountain in North America.
Tension is another type of stress that influence rock behavior. It occurs in divergent boundaries. This
time, the rocks move away from each other. This is the opposite of compression. Continents is the best example
of tension stress.
Shearing is a stress caused by pushing a mass of rock in two opposite direction that break and slip apart
or changes its shape. It happens on transform boundary. San Andreas Fault is an example of shearing.
FOLDING AND FAULTING
FOLDING
The Earth’s surface has been continually deformed. This deformation is the result of forces
that are strong enough to move ocean sediments to an elevation many thousand meters above
sea level. This helps explain the forces necessary to ben and fold rocks.
The plate tectonic movement of the plates result in deformation (folding and faulting) of
the Earth’s crust. The different types of stress that act upon rocks play an important role in the
movement of plates.
Folding is the type of Earth movement resulting from the compression of rock because of
high temperature and pressure from the interior of Earth. Bending, curving, crumpling, or
buckling of rocks into folds are usually visible on rock strata. Folding can also happen in oceans
and seas. For plastic deformation of rock to occur a number of conditions must be met, including:
• The rock material must have the ability to deform under pressure and heat.
• The higher the temperature of the rock the more plastic it becomes.
• Pressure must not exceed the internal strength of the rock. If it does fracturing occurs.
• Deformation must be applied slowly.
A number of different folds have been recognized and classified by geologists.
Monocline the simplest type of fold This fold involves a slight bend in otherwise parallel
layers. Capitol Reef is an example of a monocline in Utah.

Anticline is a convex up fold in rock that resembles an arch like structure with the rock
beds (or limbs) dipping way from the center of the structure.
 Syncline is a fold where the rock layers are warped downward. Both anticlines and
synclines are the result of compressional stress.

More complex fold types can develop in situations where lateral pressures become greater. The
greater pressure results in anticlines and synclines that are inclined and symmetrical.

A recumbent fold develops if the center of the fold moves from being once vertical to a
horizontal position. Recumbent folds are commonly found in the core of mountain ranges and
indicate that compression and/or shear forces were stronger in one direction. Extreme stress
and pressure can sometimes cause the rocks to shear along a plane of weakness creating a fault.
We call the combination of a fault and a fold in a rock an overthrust fault.
FAULTS
Faults form in rocks when the stress overcome the internal strength of the rock resulting
in a fracture. A fault can be defined as the displacement of once connected blocks of rock along
a fault plane. This can occur in any direction with the blocks moving away from each other. Faults
occur from both tensional and compressional forces. The figure below shows the location of
some of the major faults located on the Earth.

There are several different kinds of faults. These faults are named according to the type of stress
that acts on the rock and by the nature of the movement of the rock blocks either side of the
fault plane. Normal faults occur when tensional forces act in opposite directions and cause one
slab of the rock to be displaced up and the other slab down.
Reverse fault develops when compressional forces exist. Compression causes one block to be
pushed and over the other block.

A graben fault is produced when tensional stresses result in the subsidence of a block of rock.
On a large scale these features are known as Rift Valleys.

A horst fault is the development of two reverse faults causing a block of rock to be pushed up.
The final major type of fault is the strike-slip or transform fault. These faults are vertical in
nature and are produced where the stresses are exerted parallel to each other. A well-known
example of this type of fault is the San Andreas fault in California.

The process of earth’s deformation through folding and faulting changes its shape and
volume when stress and strain occur. It creates an abnormal tension inside the Earth’s crust that
leads to unequal levelling of the mantle and it forms pressure on the surface of earth. If such
tension is exerted under the land of any reservoir, it leads to collapsing of it. Folding inside earth’s
crust take many years. Fault in the land structure makes the land hollow or unhabitable, hence
it causes earthquakes.
In the Philippine the major earthquakes occur somewhere near the Philippines’ Pacific
East coast (especially the East Coasts of Mindanao and Samar), where a significant tectonic
subduction zone has created the second deepest ocean trench in the World – named the
Philippine Deep or the Philippine Trench – with a depth greater than 34,000 feet! On 31st of
August, 2012, this area of the Philippines received a 7.6 magnitude earthquake along the
Philippine Trench, East of Samar Island.